Mekong Learning from Rhone: An Exchange Visit Report

This report provides an overview of what the MRC has learned from the Compagnie National du Rhône (CNR) regarding various approaches in managing and operating multi-purpose dams.

5. It is possible to incorporate new fish pass facilities into existing dams as old as 50 years. After a year of monitoring, the new fish passes have found to pass some 35 fish species and between 40-70,000 individual fish. Monitoring data are only accessible by environmental association.
6. Effective transboundary sediment management requires close coordination between riparian states (France and Switzerland) and their dam agencies, consultation with different water users and stakeholders, and technical specifications (e.g. different elevations for sediment outlets) and operational principles (e.g. in terms of flushing and routing) as well as monitoring.
7. CNR has 85 years of river basin development and management experience -unique in terms of combining all aspects -design, construction, operation and maintenance. This experience and expertise have been put into use by countries and basins all over the world, including the Mekong. CNR has advised and reviewed Mekong mainstream projects for the Lao government.

Program in brief
The exchange visit was from 4 to 7 June 2018, whose technical program was as follows, with the list of participants and some pictures included in Annex 1 and 2, respectively: Day 1 (4 June) -Briefing and discussion at CNR Headquarters in Lyon on the differences and similarities of the Mekong and the Rhone and opportunities for mutual leaning. See highlights below and presentation in Annex 3. -Visit to the CNR COCPIT -center in its HQ dedicated to remote coordination and control of all CNR assets (dams, hydropower plants) and flow and energy forecasting and selling on the market. See PPT in Annex 4. -Visit to the CNR CACOH (Le Centre d'analyse comportementale des ouvrages hydrauliques) or laboratory used for hydraulic and sediment modelling and testing.
Day 2 (5 June) -Visit of Genissiat dam -the oldest dam in the Rhone (started construction in 1937 and started generating power from 1948) with 420 MW installed capacity and generates the second most power in the Rhone (1,780 GWh/y) -Briefing and discussion on transboundary sediment management. See PPT in Annex 5.
Day 3 (6 June) -Visit of Rochemaure small hydropower project and new fish pass facility -Visit to Bollene dam (Donzère-Mondragon) -a multipurpose project with 348 MW installed capacity and generates the most power in the Rhone (2,032 GWh/y) Day 4 (7 June) -Visit CNR Remote control center for navigation in Châteauneuf (controlling all 14 locks). See highlights below. See PPT in Annex 6.
-Visit of Logis-Neuf multipurpose project with 210 MW installed capacity and Pouzin small HPP with new fish pass facility river for the reasons of cost and mitigating risks. The same development strategy was the basis for CNR's recommendation for the Mekong in the 1994 study (master plan). • The Rhone was developed early -starting in the postwar period and accelerating between 1950s to the 1980s. The lower Rhone was developed first and then the upper Rhone -4 more dams. Total 19 schemes (including 14 locks), plus 20 small hydropower projects. • Wind was first put in place in 2006 and solar in 2008. Both now are an integral part of many CNR assets.

Integrated project development -hydropower, navigation, irrigation (plus territorial development, solar, wind, and tourism)
• The delegation visited three large dams -the oldest one (Genissiat) and two more (at Bollene and Logis Neuf) -that, especially the latter two, illustrated CNR's integrated model of run-of-river development • Typically, there are HPP with generates electricity, sediment outlets, navigation locks, pumping stations (though not in the ones the delegation visited, they are mostly in the lower Rhone), wind turbines and solar panels, environment flow and fish pass facilities. • Bollene is the only dam that was constructed with fish pass from the start • We visited the small HPPs Rochemaure and Pouzin that after 50 something years of operation recently (last 5 years) incorporated new fish pass facilities (costing between 2 to 10 million euros). After 1 year of onsite monitoring, it was observed that about 35 something species and some 40,000 to 70,000 individual fish were found to have pass the fish ladders. • Before the fish passes were built, there were no onsite monitoring for fish although some basin wide monitoring (like in the Mekong) was done (saw declining trends). The new fish passes were attempts by CNR and the French government to meet the new environmental requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. • CNR also grants land concessions to and supporting industries -about 27,000 ha -this generates additional revenues other than hydropower.

Transboundary sediment management
• The Rhone faces four sets of issues related to sediment -Human activities -flood hazards due to bed aggradation, drinking water quality, leisure activities like fishing and bathing -Agriculture -intakes and wellfields clogging -Environment -aquatic life, habitats quality and diversity, sediment continuity (disruption in reservoirs) -Industry -nuclear power plant cooling system clogging, water intake clogging and loss of storage capacity for dams, dam safety issues like spillways obstruction, and navigation safety like channel obstruction • The Genissiat dam has three level sediment outlets: High Level Outlet (HLO), Intermediate Level Outlet (ILO), and Bottom Outlet (BO) • Operation and monitoring: several sediment gauging stations providing real time 24/7 data; some stations are managed jointly by Swiss and French teams. The gates opening as well as the reservoir water level are then adjusted to obtain appropriate concentrations. • During operation, ecological surveys are conducted to evaluate impact on aquatic life (fish) • Coordination between Swiss operator (SIG) and French (CNR) and authoritiesbinational technical committee for the Upper Rhone River • Consultation through public meetings with different stakeholders for most consensual sediment management scheme • Currently studying to develop a masterplan for sediment management for the whole Rhone river from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean sea, taking into account sediment, ecological and socio-economic issues • Lessons from 85 years in the Rhone can help save time for other developing basins: -Flushing and routing of sediment through reservoirs can be conducted in an environmentally friendly way -Dams should be equipped with water and sediment release facilitates located at different elevations deepening on their height -To facilitate sediment routing, dam conception should allow recovering natural like flow conditions in the reservoir for a large panel of discharges -A close cooperation between operators of each dam on the cascade -Permanent and comprehensive field observations on hydraulics and sediment fluxes are required for decision making

CNR COCPIT
• Centre in CNR HQ to remote control and operate all CNR assets • Hydrological and meteorological monitoring and forecasting, energy production forecasting, and access to energy market • Real time control of hydropower generation and adjusting disparities • Using power generation forecasting tool -developed by CNR and now will be used also by Xaiyaburi HPP. year round (about three months not able to navigate) due to fierce currents, shallows, floods in spring and early summer when the ice was melting, and droughts in late summer. Now only 15-20 days of maintenance that cannot navigate per year. • Remote Navigation Management Centre (CGN) in Châteauneuf, operating all 14 locks from one location. With the center, CNR needed less human resources to man every lock and can coordinate better the passage of ships. Also, the center operates 24/7, while before the locks were operated only between 5 am to 9 pm.

CNR's support of sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin
Regional: • 1993-1994: Commissioned by the Mekong Secretariat (predecessor of the MRCS) to review and develop master plan for Mekong mainstream hydropower (1993)(1994) -Based on experience in the Rhone, CNR converted and recommended all planned mainstream projects to be run-of-river to minimize environmental and social impacts -CNR also recommended that before proceeding with individual projects, impact studies must be conducted • Commissioned by Government of Laos (GOL) to provide peer-review of mainstream projects before PNPCA -Xaiyaburi, Don Sahong, Pak Beng, Pak Lay, as well as Sanakham and Phou Ngoy -CNR checked against three international standards (MRC PDG, WB, ICOLD), recommended on-site monitoring as a key for design improvement, request for documents to be provided by developer, and that design/construction/operation must be given same importance • Conducted optimization study (2009)  To face the randomness nature of renewable generation (water, wind, sun), we specialized in managing intermittent energies to optimize the appreciation of our energies on the markets.
Modern dispatch center: COCPIT and a complete industrial environment able to: Anticipate the conditions of production through weather forecasting; Optimize the placement of production in relation to the trading room;

Real-time control of our generation and reduce disparities;
Access to the energy market 24/7.

Discharge forecasting
Rainfall/discharge on tributaries:

Improvement of data usage based on statistical analyses
Methods and tools for discharge and sediment measurements QA/QC Regional analysis of river flow regime

On-site monitoring as a key for design improvement
• Generally a lack of data in the FS • Need for accurate site specific data for design and demonstration of the efficiency of the technical solutions proposed by the developer • Input data useful for both design phase and operation phase

Request of the documentation to be provided by the developer
• Reference to international standards (including PDG) • Every management plan that is required must be delivered • Consistent with existing regulation Design, construction and operation must be given the same importance • Developers and their design institutes are usually familiar with design and construction.
• Most of the time, there is a need to improve capacity regarding operation, operation preparation before COD and operation of run-of-river HPP in particular.

Sharing CNR extensive know-how about run-of-river HPP operation
Run-of-river concept • Operation pattern of the project is mandatory and must be consistent with run-of-river concept.
• Need for flow monitoring and forecasting

Need for operation coordination and control in Lao PDR
• FS for the development and implementation of a GoL state agency dedicated to the coordination and monitoring of the management of all the multipurpose HPPs implemented in Lao PDR • Mekong River upstream Vientiane as a first step • Core functions to address: • Integrated water resource management, incl. institutional issues, power and non-power water uses, • Safety: dam safety, coordination of flood management, early warning system, water quality, etc. • Continuity: sediment management, fish migration follow-up, inland navigation development, etc.

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE ON MEKONG DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION AND MONITORING CENTER (CMC)
• FS for the development and implementation of a GoL state agency dedicated to the coordination and monitoring of the management of all the multipurpose HPPs implemented in Lao PDR • Mekong River upstream Vientiane as a first step • Key issues to deal with at FS stage: Major issues at stakes while developing large rivers:  Run-of-river production is a catalyst for development of large rivers (no storage and no regulation capacity) and an opportunity to develop non power water use:  River Cascade development needs consistency in the design from upstream to downstream and coordination of operation;  Integrated vision of a whole river is of paramount importance to implement best practices.